Flush-valve.



No. 805,148. PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905. E. A. MARSH.

PLUSH VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1904.

2552s: Qumran):

(5 //w\ m a MML UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELON A. MARSH, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK e.

OHARA, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

FLUSH-VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELoN A. MARSH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Flush-Valves; and I declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as Will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to flush-valves for tanks or cisterns, and hasfor its object an im proved method of sustaining a vertically-liftingvalve upon a support which by itself is unstable, but when operated onby water flowing through the valve-seat becomes stable during the timesuch flow continues or until the hydraulic head of water in the tankbecomes so low and the current force so weak that the weight of thevalve disengages the locking mechanism of the said support and permitsthe valve to fall freely on its seat.

I am aware that flush-valves have been devised and patented wheremechanism in the outlet-passage below the valve-seat was operated bywater flowing through the valveseat to hold a hinged or flapper valveopen while the tank is flushing; but in such cases the valve and thelocking mechanism are usually coupled together and are at all timesliable to sustain the valve in an intermediate position with danger ofless than a full or desired opening. Moreover, such valves cannot fallfreely by gravity, as in falling they must carry the looking orsupporting mechanism in a contrary direction, and are therefore liableto fail to close perfectly. I am also aware that Letters Patent No.758,012, issued to me on April 19, 1904, shows a device in which a catchis thrown by the weight of water to a position to engage under a part ofthe valve and suspended on a post.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows the valve and the valve-casing, intowhich there is a waste-pipe connection at one side. Fig. 2 shows a planview of the valve-casing and the location and arrangement of theinterlocking device for holding the valve above its seat.

In Fig. 1, 1 indicates the valve-casing or spud with a waste connectionor overflow 2. At the top of the casing is a valve-seat 3, into whichengages a flexible valve 4, surrounding the valve-holder 5. Within thevalve-casing is a vertically-disposed cylindrical guide 6. Said guide iscentrally attached to a cross-bar of the valve-casing and projectsdownward toward the bottom of the spud. A spindle 0r valve-stem 7,attached to the valve-holder 5, is adapted to move freely in the guide 6and guides the movements of the valve. The val vestem 7 is provided withan annular circumferential groove 8. The upper side of this groove isslightly beveled and forms in part the supporting means for the valve.

9 indicates a curved vane attached to a lever 10, which is pivoted tothe cross-bar by the pivot 11 and has an easy but limited oscillatorymovement on a vertical axis. The lever 10 swings partly over the top ofthe guide 6 and engages or can engage in the groove 8 and support thevalve.

The top of the valve is provided with an attachment for lifting it.

The operation of this valve is as follows: When the valve is lifted fromits seat and water flows through the valve-orifice and strikes thecurved vane 9 and swings lever 10 against the valve-stem, and if thevalve is raised to a point giving a desired valveopening, so that thegroove 8 registers with the lever 10, said lever will be pressed intosaid groove by the action of water on the curved vane and will supportthe valve so long as the force of the flowing water is suflicient tomaintain the engagement of the lever With the groove. As the upper faceof the groove 8 is beveled, the weight of the valve tends at all timesto push the lever away and destroy its support, and when the force ofwater acting on the vane 9 is less than the opposing force of gravitythe interlocking devices disengage and the valve falls freely to itsseat independently of the supporting mechanism.

It is evident that the elements of this invention may be employed invarious forms without departing from well-established principles ofmechanical equivalents. For instance, a supporting-lug may be attachedrigidly to the guide or casing and a movable part actuated by waterattached to the valve, or the valve itself may be provided with one ormore wings or vanes that acted upon by water turn the valve or a part ofthe valve axially, and thus engage the mechanism of support; but suchmechanical arrangements would simply be another application of theelements of which I claim to be the original inventor.

I therefore claim as follows:

1. In a flush-valve for tanks or cisterns, a valve-casing and avalve-seat, a manuallyopened valve provided with means for engaging withasupport, a locking mechanism therefor that oscillates on a verticalaxis and is actuated by water flowing through the valveorifice, saidvalve being disengaged from its support by gravity when the flow ofwater through the orifice ceases, or is sufliciently weakened by theloss of hydraulic head, substantially as described.

2. In a flush-valve, the combination of a casing having avalve-seat atits upper face, a valve, a central vertical downwardly-extending stemfor said valve, a sleeve in said casing for guiding said stem, and meanshinged to said sleeve to contact with said stem and hold the valve inits elevated position.

3. In a flush-valve for tanks or cisterns, a valve-casing and avalve-seat, a valve therefor adapted to be raised or opened manually, avertical guide for said valve having a supporting lug or catch to retainthe valve in an open position; mechanism adapted to oscillate on avertical axis and operated by the outflowing water to engage said lug orcatch until the hydrostatic head is so reduced that its force is nolonger sufficient to maintain an engagement of the supporting mechanism,whereby the weight of the valve disengages the supporting mechanism andthe valve falls freely to its seat by gravity, substantially asdescribed.

4:. A flush-valve operated to open manually, a catch mechanism adaptedto oscillate on a vertical axis actuated by the outflowing water tosupport said valve, means whereby the catch mechanism will release itsengagement and allow the valve to fall freely to its seat by gravitywhen the flow of water di-' minishes beyond a predetermined amount,substantially as described.

5. In a flush-valve for tanks or cisterns, a valve arranged to be openedmanually, a supporting device for said valve formed in part by a vane orvanes adapted to turn on a vertical axis and upon which water flowingthrough the valve-orifice impinges, causing said support to becomestable while water is flowing and permitting the valve to fall freely bygravity when the water ceases to flow, or when its flow is so reduced bythe loss of hydraulic head that its force upon the vane is insuflicientto maintain a stable support for the valve, substantially as described.

6. In a flush-valve for tanks or cisterns, a valve arranged to be openedmanually and means for supporting the valve vertically above its seat byforce of water flowing through valve-orifice, a spoon or vaneoscillatory on a vertical axis adapted to actuate the supporting meansor vane-shaped face or faces, under force of water causing said valve torest on a support, which support is so arranged as to cause said valveto be released and permit said valve to fall to its seat by force ofgravity as soon as the head of water in the tank or cistern is reducedbelow a predetermined ELON A. MARS H.

Witnesses:

T. GLADSTONE MASSEY, ELLIOTT J. STODDARD.

